North Texas Daily

A 9-5 season and back to back bowl campaigns have led eyes from across the country to take notice of what North Texas head coach Seth Littrell is doing in Denton through his brief two-year tenure.

The eyes are also those of fellow coaches. As a result, Littrell has been selected to join the American Football Coaches Association board of trustees along with Stanford head coach David Shaw and North Dakota State University head coach Chris Klieman. The three were voted in by board members Jan. 9 at the AFCA convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Littrell has roots spanning throughout college football, starting in his playing days for Oklahoma University under Bob Stoops. From there, he coached under the minds of Mike Leach at Texas Tech University, Mike Stoops at University of Arizona and Larry Fedora at the University of North Carolina before finally becoming the head coach at North Texas.

“Seth, at this stage in his career, being put on that board just shows the respect people have nationally for the person he is, his integrity, his coaching abilities, but beyond that, his leadership abilities,” athletic director Wren Baker said. “It’s good for North Texas, and it’s certainly good for Conference USA to have voices on that board. It’s a great honor for us that two years into his tenure he’s been put on there.”

The board of trustees has a voice in what the coaches think and what gets heard when in communication with the NCAA or other outlets. The AFCA is independent from the NCAA, though, and serves for the best interest of the coaches. The honor shows the amount of trust the coaching community has in Littrell, who is only 39 years old.

He can also be a voice for Conference USA.

“Seth updates the conference coaches on where AFCA is on different issues when the conference football coaches have their meeting,” Baker said. “They discuss all of the [prominent] issues, and they’ll take a vote and come back with an opinion and have discussions with their athletic directors.”

Being on a board representing every college coach in the country and more than 11,000 members makes it is easy to see why this position comes with so much attention. However, it will not consume too much of Littrell’s time as the meetings are brief and conversations or votes are usually not in person unless they are at the convention, which is held once a year.

For Littrell, Baker and the North Texas football program as a whole, it shows just how far everyone has come in the past two years.

“The work of [the AFCA] is important,” Baker said. “You look at all of the things that have changed nationally in college football from player safety to additional cost of attendance stipends. The AFCA has a voice in that process, and they have become more organized when talking about those issues.”

Featured image: Head coach Seth Littrell Celebrates with his wife and fans after a win over the University of Texas at San Antonio. Colin Mitchell